As an avid reviewer of RPGs, I feel that I must start this review with the
following disclaimer: Final Fantasy XI is my first real experience with a
Massively Multiplayer Online RPG (MMORPG). While I have played other
MMORPGs before, none of them have been able to hold on to my attention
long enough that I could write a review--until now.

Final Fantasy XI takes place in the world of Vana'diel. Vana'diel has
been a place of conflict for many years, but is currently enjoying a
relatively peaceful time. Three nations, Bastok, San d'Oria, and
Windurst, hire leagues of adventurers to fight with their symbol, or
signet, in order to gain control of the many regions of Vana'diel, thus
avoiding a direct conflict with the other nations. This is the role for
the thousands of players to fill.

The world is divided into many different regions, which are then
sub-divided into several zones. Each one of these zones contains a good
amount of real estate. It takes an average of five minutes to run from
one side of a zone to the other. There are other ways to get around
Vana'diel, but they only open up as the player advances through the game.

Final Fantasy XI is driven by a conquest system. Each week the three
nations are ranked, with the top nation enjoying larger shops and more
items to trade for, while the lowest nation has only a few items. To try
and create a balance, the amount of time the signet lasts is greater for a
player of a lower ranked nation. Once the signet spell has run out, the
player must return to one of the major cities, or an outpost in their
country's control to renew it. All battles fought without signet will not
gain points for the country's conquest ranking. If one nation has a
strong hold on the conquest, it makes the game more difficult for players of
the other nations.

Final Fantasy XI, like all MMORPGs, is a very slow-paced game. At the
time of this review, I have played over 150 hours since the release (more
than the past three Final Fantasy games combined), and have yet to open
any advanced jobs, and have only procured the Chocobo as a faster means of
transportation. Compared to my experiences during the beta, this is
actually an above average pace for advancement. This is not a game where
someone can be done with it in a month or two.

However, there is a story to be told. Unlike most of my reviews, I can't
actually explain the story, which has been a real stopping point on
writing the review. The story picks up around the 10th mission for each
nation, but I have only completed six at the time of review. The
expansion included in the North American release, Rise of the Zilart, adds
even more missions, but as of this review, there is no ending to the story.
Square Enix has hinted of a conclusion with another expansion pack
sometime next year.

Evil in Vana'diel

With all this slowing down the game, there has to be something that keeps
players going. While there is the unusual person who can dedicate their
life to gaming, the rest of us need that extra something to push forward.
That would be the other people. Since everyone is already fighting for
their nation, Square Enix did not want to further divide those nations
into factions, so instead of clans, they created linkshells. Linkshells
are only a form of communication with others. They are used for a variety
of reasons, but most players treat them as a community; a haven for people
with a common goal. While Vana'diel has been unusual as not having a
large amount of annoying people overall, there are enough in any online
game that it's always better to have a community in which to pool
information and find parties, instead of relying on the kindness of the
random passer-by. This is assuming they can speak the same language in
the first place.

Which brings me to the strongest reason not to play Final Fantasy XI.
Square Enix decided to leave PlayOnline as a multilingual experience.
There is no in-game separation between the Japanese and the
English-speaking players. This has created a lot of resentment on both
sides. The Japanese players feel that the English players are obnoxious
and cause the game to lag. The North American players are unhappy that
the Japanese were able to have such a head start on every single server.
There was no accommodation given to creating a level playing field for
both sides to have a fair start on even one of over 25 available servers.

Whether Square Enix never foresaw the division that would take place, or
that they thought that their auto-translation system would be able to compensate
for the lack of unity is unknown. The translation system is very hard to
use. In order to find a phrase, first a phrase category must be selected,
and then the closest matching text chosen. In a time-critical situation,
it's simply not possible to get a message across in time. The vocabulary
available is very limited, and since the messages can't be edited, the
system is more frustrating than useful. It also doesn't naturally occur
to most people that what they are saying has to be translated until it's
too late.

Where are we going?

With that, the two cultures typically keep to themselves, though a small
minority of players try to bridge the gap for the sake of their friends.
For the most part, a player who does not want to speak to the other side
will not face any particular hardships. Since parties are an important
part of the game, communication between players should have been given a
lot more consideration than it was.

The battle system is instantly familiar to a veteran of the Final Fantasy
series, but players more accustomed to MMORPGs instead find the menu
system cumbersome. The Final Fantasy veteran has to adjust to the fact
that one has to rely on other people to do their job instead of
controlling everything. While this has significant advantages in the heat
of battle, an entire party can be wiped out quickly if the White Mage
decides to get a soda and forgets to mention they did so.

Final Fantasy has gone online with the release of Final Fantasy XI for
Windows, and there is no turning back. With only marginal success in
Japan, many RPGamers have watched news and media for this game with a
detached interest. News about people becoming addicted to EverQuest adds
to the apprehension of starting an online journey. Final Fantasy XI is
not for everyone, but it does show promise in pulling a hardcore console
RPGamer like myself into the online world. With the release of the
PlayStation 2 version this March, even more people are going to want to
explore an online game for the first time. Whether this will be good or
bad for Vana'diel... we'll just have to see.